Cherie Priest's Blog: It's awards season, so here comes the shameless self-promotion, page 72

Drive Angry

I was going to write a review of Drive Angry – which I dragged my husband to go see last night – but then I read this over at i09, and now I feel like it's all been covered.

I don't care what anybody says, I enjoyed the heck out of that movie. It was awful, sure. Corny and terrible and badly written.* Let me be clear: This is not a good movie.

But it is a deeply enjoyable one. It was the worst flick I've ever seen that I thoroughly loved; and if Nic Cage wants to become the bug-eyed crazypants king of the grindhouse for awhile, then I am totally okay with that.

* Except for the material surrounding The Accountant, who is absolutely the shining, gleaming, scene-chewing gem of this flick. See also: The chief of police in [some unspecified locale of] Oklahoma. I loved that guy, too.

[Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

A terrible love song – you sang it so sweet

I actually got a tiny smidge of writing done today. It's hardly worth reporting, except that it's coming in drips and drabs these days – and I feel like I ought to mention it, mark it, and generally shame myself into keeping up with this better.

Yes, I realize the pressure isn't on yet, but that's an even better reason to get this bad-boy underway. Last year was hard, with two novel deadlines within 2-1/2 months of each other. This year, if I can manage my time like a responsible adult, I can save myself a lot of hysteria.

So here goes.

Project: Inexplicables

Deadline: September 15, 2011

New words written: 933

Present total word count: 3064 words

[Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

I fold compassion and vengeance bleeds through

It's a perfectly crap-tastic day here in Seattle, 20-some-odd degrees and a thin layer of brittle white pseudo-snow or slick black ice all over everything. At least that's how it is up here, on the hill where I make my home. Not a pretty sight, frankly. Not fluffy and Wonderlandy. Just crusty, cold, and thin.

However, there is reason to be optimistic. I got up earlier today than I have in a while, so the whole day is before me … and it's one I have sort of "off," given that I'm waiting on something to arrive in the mail before I can start my next day-job project. Hypothetically, I can take some time to Be A Writer.

But in real life, I am much more likely to look around and remember that my apartment is kind of filthy, and I need to go grocery shopping rather desperately, and laundry is starting to pile up, and I still need to scan/file some expenses, and I have some bills to look up and pay, and about half a dozen important-ish emails that have been sitting in my inbox entirely too long … and … and … yeah.

Every now and again, one needs a "catch-up" day. I just wish that all my catch-up days (as of late) were not the sort wherein I've caught up on everything but writing work. But such is life. And here, have some links:

The Living Dead 2 is up for a Dead Letter Award – This is relevant to my interests because my short story "Reluctance" is featured therein. And hey, if you click through to vote in that handy-dandy ticky-box ballot, please consider throwing some love toward a great flick called Zombies of Mass Destruction. In short, it's the story of an Iranian-American family trapped in the midst of a zombie outbreak which very shortly becomes blamed on terrorist activity … and/or a pair of gay men who get stuck in the midst of a zombie outbreak which a town full of fundies blames on sinful behavior. But it's a comedy! And a very fun example of the genre.

Techniques in Writing Alternate History – Some thoughts on the subject from the King of Elfland's Second Cousin, using some of my works (and a bunch of other people's) as jumping off points and/or illustrative fodder.

Helium digs on Bloodshot – Wherein the reviewer attempts to co-opt other people's thumbs, so that she can offer the book five thumbs up rather than the traditional two. How could I not link that?

Old Man's War – The Movie! – Three fat, happy cheers to my pal John Scalzi, whose novel has been picked up (and is in the process of being developed for film) by Paramount. Wolfgang Petersen is attached to direct, and David Self is adapting the story. ALL HAIL. This is exceedingly cool news, and I can't wait to see the result!

[Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

You're so natural – religiously unkind

Last night after yelling at my only-partially-functioning Wii controller for about twenty minutes, I discovered that SOMEONE had vigorously chewed through the system's sensor cable … biting it into multiple pieces, and basically nomming it into mulch.

I say "I" discovered this. Actually my husband figured it out; but he's one of the suspects in this cable-munching misdemeanor, and for all I know his "discovery" of the crime might only be part and parcel of an elaborate alibi.

Look, only three carbon-based lifeforms with teeth live under this particular roof – and I know I didn't chomp through the cable. That leaves my husband and the cat. And if I honestly thought the cat had done it, I'd have to turn her into a pair of mittens. So for now, I'm tentatively blaming the husband.

Anyway.

Today on our way back from our CPA's office, we swung by Northgate and picked up a wireless sensor bar … all the better to thwart any future cord-nibbling from two-footed and four-footed fiends alike. Now it is installed, and all is once again right in the world. Me and my MarioKart can carry on as before.

At least, I can carry on once I get some work done.

As mentioned above, we've been out for the morning/early afternoon – most of that time spent getting our taxes sorted. Or semi-sorted. We still have some numbers to nail down with regards to the coffee shop's particulars, but by and large, we know what Uncle Sam expects from us and that's something of a relief. But since I lost most of the day to that brand of errand-running, I now must settle in and be productive.

First … a few links:

A Boneshaker quiz on GoodReads – Composed and compiled by some charmingly hilarious person with entirely too much free time … but hey, it made me laugh.

The Iron Thorn releases today – My friend Caitlin Kittredge's young adult steampunk novel set in the city of Lovecraft – come and get it! I loved it a lot, and even threw down a bit of blurbage to recommend it. I don't do that very often, people. But it really was that good.

Iron Crowned is also fresh on the shelves – My friend Richelle Mead likewise has a metallic book on deck today, though hers is more for the older crowd. It too is fantastic – her Eugenie books are absolutely wild.

SFWA has announced the Nebula nominees – And it's a great list! Many congratulations to everyone who made it – particularly to (another friend and all-around outstanding human being) Mary Robinette Kowal, for scoring a spot in the Novel category with Shades of Milk and Honey. This is another book I blurbed – one of the very, very few. SEE? I totally have awesome taste. You should always trust my recommendations.

[Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

They didn't know the music was in my soul

I arrived in Houston Saturday night, reaching my hotel sometime around 7:00 … only to find that the lobby was loudly occupied by a pair of women in vinyl slutty nurse costumes. Before them on a table were several large bowls, occupied each in turn by what appeared to be raver-style blinky LED bling, candy pops, and assorted novelty pills. Beside these offerings sat a tray covered with champagne flutes.

The nurses collectively said, "Wooooo!" in that way of girls hanging out of limousine sun roofs and wearing mardi gras beads, and offered me my pick of the table's stash.

(Really, I should've taken a picture. And/or two-fisted the champagne flutes.)

But instead of accepting whatever the heck it was they were pushing, I asked them where check-in desk was; and once I'd finally located this useful locale, I asked what precisely was the deal with the fantasy healthcare professionals. (Not that I have a problem with slutty nurses, or nurses of any other stripe. I was just curious, that's all.) The hotel employee – a woman in a significantly less eye-catching polyester uniform – rolled her eyes and said that she thought it had to do with hearth health awareness month. Or something.

And that, my friends, is all the explanation I ever got.

The nurses were gone when I came back downstairs an hour later to meet up with the marvelous Jess Nevins for drinks and shenanigans, and I was disappointed. I felt like I needed witness confirmation in lieu of photographic evidence. Oh well. You'll have to take my word for it.

Anyway – me and Jess went out for tapas (reaaaaally good tapas), then hit up a coffee shop for after-party sodas and caffeine. It was exceedingly awesome to see him, as I don't see him often – and besides the fact that he's a lovely person, he's also a huge pop academia dork just like yours truly. Ours in not a big tribe. It is nerdy and it spends too much time in libraries. But it is always a hoot when we get together and geek out.

Back at the hotel (still devoid of slutty nurses, as if they'd never been there at all), I settled in for the night, got a little work done, watched some late night TV, and listened to the four men across the hall – who were practicing their barbershop quartet routine. They sounded pretty good, and they stopped by midnight, so I didn't complain about it.

Then, of course, yesterday it was time for the big event at Murder by the Book. I was psyched to meet the store people – each and every one of whom was deeply cool and lovely – and I was utterly tickled to hang with the store pugs, Gus and Sam.

Gus is the fellow pictured to the right, who stole my seat. He's also the fellow who hung out in my lap while I signed special orders. Sam is a little older and more reserved, but equally charming – with his little piggy noises and his love of cookies.

The event itself was fantastic, and not just because I had several old friends in the crowd. I got to say hello to a guy I haven't seen since college (hi Bill J.!) and I even got to meet Paulina and Andrew's adorable goblin baby! (He was wearing a little stripey outfit reminiscent of a certain baby in a certain David Bowie movie about a certain goblin king.) The audience was great; stories were told; books were signed; and I continued to play with the pugs throughout the proceedings because hey, pugs.

Seriously – I can't thank the store (and its crew, and its customers) enough for having me out there. It was great to be back on the Gulf (even the weather was beautiful!) and a blast to meet so many neat new people, and hang with a few distant friends … even if it was only for a little bit.

For alas, shortly after the event it was time to head to the airport. One of the employees gave me a ride (thanks again!), and I was early enough to nab a bit of supper before take-off … which turned out to be more of a complicated affair than usual.

As you know if you followed my Twitter stream last night, the flight was rather seriously delayed – because while we were taxiing to the runway, the gentleman in the seat behind mine had a heart attack.

His seating companion was a friend who was aware of his health issues; he summoned the flight attendant, there was a flurry of panic, and it was announced that we were going back to the gate – where paramedics would remove the man from the flight and take care of him. But in the meantime, was there a doctor on the plane?

Yes, and an EMT too, as it turned out. Between them, they retrieved the plane's emergency equipment and defibrillator, hooked the man up, and tried to keep him calm/talking/popping aspirin while locating his medications and whatnot. Things appeared to be looking up, or at least stabilizing by the time we actually made it back to the gate … but the paramedics weren't there to meet the plane after all.

Apparently it had been a busy night at George Bush International. Rumor had it that there was another heart attack at one end of the joint, and a woman in labor somewhere else; so we camped at the gate for another twenty minutes and eventually a couple of dudes showed up with a skinny plane wheelchair and they took him away.

He flashed the thumbs up while he was leaving, so I'm just going to hope for/assume the best, and wish him well – wherever he is.

Anyway, that's the story of my exciting weekend in Texas. Today I slept in until after eleven a.m., which was unintentional – but probably badly needed, given all the travel (and the 6-1/2 hours spent on the plane, all told, last night). Besides, it's Presidents' Day. I think the husband and I will head out for lunch and take it easy.

I could use a holiday to recover from that-there weekend, I tell you what.

[Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

Learning lines in the rain

Well folks, I'm all packed for Houston – and I've even performed my ritual printing-out-of-all-travel-documents (which I neurotically do, and staple, and file, and carry in my purse). So I'm as ready as I'm going to get.

The flight itself will be four hours each way, and yes, this is only an overnight trip. Maybe I'll get some work done, or something. Ha! More likely, I'll get a lot of trashy magazine reading done, or plane-TV watched, if it's available. Let it not be said that I don't know my weaknesses.

But there are definitely worse ways to spend a weekend than going to a very cool bookstore in one of my home states – as I consider Texas, see yesterday's footnote – for the express purpose of signing books, chattering, and hanging out. I mean really. I'm a very lucky woman in this regard.

And to refresh your memory: If you're in the greater Houston area, come see me at Murder by the Book at 2:00 p.m. this coming Sunday. (2342 Bissonnet St.)

In other news to close out the week, here are just a few short links to hold you over until I get back:

Bloodshot review: The Lady is a Vamp – This review is so glowing as to be almost embarrassing, but because my parents read this page, I'm going to link it anyway. I particularly appreciate how the reviewer noticed the heavy noir influence, as well as the way gender ambiguity is a bit of a theme. Really, I'm just deeply flattered and delighted that the reviewer took the time to think about the book so much, and to put his opinion out there.

Dreadnought shares a review with The Buntline Special – Excerpt of personal glee: "Priest has clearly put some thought into it — not just the fun parts, like zombies and air piracy, but the hauntingly simple parts, like the dearth of educated men in a country fighting a war of attrition where every able-bodied man is sent to the front lines. And all of it is wrapped up in a clear, crisp writing style that drives the story cleanly and compellingly, like a locomotive, towards the story's inevitable and climactic confrontation."

I'm on a list! – A pretty cool list, actually: TechRepublic's list of 100+ geeks to follow on Twitter. Holy crap, I'm in some excellent company, there. And of course, if you'd like to add me to Twitter but maybe did not know that was an option, go here and follow away. I'll likely be tweeting while I'm out of town, if not blogging so much.

[Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

The devil is waiting for me

I've had a couple of people ask about this lately – so here's an official heads up, a few days out: Yes indeed, I'm absolutely planning to be at Murder by the Book in Houston this coming Sunday, at 2:00 p.m.

This is my first Texas appearance since … well, hell. Although I lived there for a while,* I haven't been to Texas – even to visit, much less for an event – since my sister's wedding seven or eight years back. (Coincidentally, that was also in Houston.) So yes, I'm really looking forward to this! Lots of cool friends I don't often see, and a super-groovy indie bookstore to boot.

For details regarding the impending shindig, click here, and I hope to see some of you there this weekend!

* Amarillo, briefly – when I was a kid. Then down in the southeast corner, a little spot called "Orange," for a few years.

[Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

Fribbity-Jibbit.

So I didn't get any writing done today. Instead I barreled through the day-job material and got myself … well, not done, but done with a significant portion. I also cleaned the fish tank and did laundry. And, um. Might've played a bit of MarioKart while waiting for clothes to wash. And then some more, while waiting for the clothes to dry.

Now I'm feeling a bit burned out (big surprise), and all I really want is a glass of wine and my pajamas – which feels ridiculous, given that it's not even 6:00 p.m. here on the West Coast. But the heart wants what it wants, am I right?

I don't know. I feel like everything will be back on an even keel when I can just get this One. Damn. Thing. offa my plate. And if I play my cards right, that might happen tomorrow afternoon. That's what I'm going to shoot for, anyway. And then, more writing.

* * *

Someone asked me last night, at the Third Place event, how/when I write. I rambled, partly because (a). that's what I do, and partly because (b). I've had so much other stuff to do in recent weeks, that I've scarcely done enough writing to give the nice lady a decent answer.

The fact is, sometimes it doesn't happen. Sometimes it doesn't happen a lot, and for a while. And I feel crappy about it, but not so crappy that I'm going to fight it tonight.

[Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

Floating upon this surface for the birds

Many thanks to everyone who came out for the event at Third Place last night, as well as to all th bookstore folks who pulled the thing together. We had a great crowd, and many books were sold – so really, it's just one big fat "win" and I'm terribly, terribly grateful.

I read chapter seven, which is to say, the one wherein a vampire and a drag queen fight off the Men In Black inside a gay bar in Atlanta. Heh.

Anyway, today I'm back at the daily grind, getting a jump on (what I fervently hope is) the Final Push on the Day Job Project That Never Ends. The end is in sight! But there's a lot of work left to do between here and there, so I'm going to be the most boring blogger alive and hop offline in order to tackle it.

If I'm lucky, there might even be time/room in the schedule for a bit of writing this afternoon. What? It could happen…

[Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

Lost in a coma and covered in cake

So Valentine's Day was good for me, and I hope you all likewise had a very fine holiday – or at least a relatively trouble-free Monday, as the case may be. I got my hair color touched up, ran a couple of errands, and then stayed in with the husband for supper … as he's a much better cook than I am.

Good times!

But not so much good blog fodder.

Anyway – tonight I'll be appearing over at Third Place Books (in Lake Forest Park, Seattle-area) to read from and natter on about Bloodshot … and because I've been both (a). busy, and (b). ill for the last week, I completely forgot to mention it. But, yes! Tonight! 7:00 p.m. at that very find independent bookstore! Catch me there if you're interested, and we'll talk drag queens, vampires, OCD, fabulous punk squatters, Men In Black, and more.

(We can also talk steampunk if you like. I'm highly prone to going off-topic, and I don't want anyone to think that any book-related questions are out of line. Heck, for that matter I'll answer just about any query you have, even if it's not about books. I like to be helpful. Most of the time.)

For now, however, I have to get another passel of day-job work done, get myself showered and dressed, and generally get my act together so that by 7:00 tonight I am capable of appearing as a civilized adult. Which is sometimes harder than it sounds.

Have a good one! And I hope to see some of you tonight.

[Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]